Intestinal tube formation in Caenorhabditis elegans requires vang-1 and egl-15 signaling

Understanding how epithelial organs form during morphogenesis is a major problem in developmental biology. In the present paper, we provide a detailed analysis of vang-1, the only homolog of the planar cell polarity protein Strabismus/Van Gogh in Caenorhabditis elegans. We demonstrate that during organogenesis of the intestine, (i) VANG-1 specifically interacts with PDZ 2 domain of DLG-1 (Discs large) and becomes phosphorylated by the kinase domain of the FGF-like receptor tyrosine kinase EGL-15; (ii) VANG-1 is predominantly restrained to the cell cortex but relocates to the apical junction; and (iii) in vang-1 embryos epithelial cells of the intestine are not correctly arranged along the anterior-posterior axis. To investigate what determines the disposition of the VANG-1 protein, either truncated protein forms were expressed in the intestine or RNAi was used to remove the functions of gene products previously shown to be involved in apical junction formation. Removal of the VANG-1 PDZ binding motif “− ESAV” and depletion of dlg-1 or let-413 gene functions interferes with the localization of VANG-1. In addition, egl-15 embryos show a premature relocation of VANG-1 to the apical junction, causing defects that resemble those observed in mutant vang-1 embryos and after intestine-specific overexpression of full-length vang-1. Finally, the localization of VANG-1 depends on DSH-2, a homolog of the planar cell polarity protein Dishevelled and depletion phenocopies vang-1 and egl-15 phenotypes in the embryonic intestine.     

Caspase inhibition in apoptotic T cells triggers necrotic cell death depending on the cell type and the proapoptotic stimulus

CD95 (Fas/Apo-1) triggers apoptotic cell death via a caspase-dependent pathway. Inhibition of caspase activation blocks proapoptotic signaling and thus, prevents execution of apoptosis. Besides induction of apoptotic cell death, CD95 has been reported to trigger necrotic cell death in susceptible cells. In this study, we investigated the interplay between apoptotic and necrotic cell death signaling in T cells. Using the agonistic CD95 antibody, 7C11, we found that caspase inhibition mediated by the pancaspase inhibitor, zVAD-fmk, prevented CD95-triggered cell death in Jurkat T cells but not in A3.01 T cells, although typical hallmarks of apoptosis, such as DNA fragmentation or caspase activation were blocked. Moreover, the caspase-independent cell death in A3.01 cells exhibited typical signs of necrosis as detected by a rapid loss of cell membrane integrity and could be prevented by treatment with the radical scavenger butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). Similar to CD95-induced cell death, apoptosis triggered by the DNA topoisomerase inhibitors, camptothecin or etoposide was shifted to necrosis when capsase activation was inhibited. In contrast to this, ZVAD was fully protective when apoptosis was triggered by the serpase inhibitor, Nalpha-tosyl-phenyl-chloromethyl ketone (TPCK). TPCK was not protective when administered to anti-CD95/ZVAD-treated A3.01 cells, indicating that TPCK does not possess anti-necrotic activity but fails to activate the necrotic death pathway. Our findings show (a) that caspase inhibition does not always protect apoptotic T cells from dying but merely activates a caspase-independent mode of cell death that results in necrosis and (b) that the caspase-inhibitor-induced shift from apoptotic to necrotic cell death is dependent on the cell type and the proapoptotic stimulus.     

Gangliosides are not essential for influenza virus infection

Sialic acid is known to be an essential part of influenza virus receptors, but the specific identity of the receptor molecules on target cells is still not defined. In particular, the relative roles played by cellular sialylglycoproteins and gangliosides in virus entry into target cells remain unclear. To test whether gangliosides are essential for virus infection, we used the GM-95 mutant cell line of mouse B16 melanoma which lacks synthesis of major glycosphingolipids including gangliosides. We found that GM-95 cells grown in serum-containing medium harboured substantial amounts of ganglioside receptors for influenza virus due to incorporation of serum gangliosides. To obtain ganglioside-free cells, we adapted GM-95 cells to growth in defined serum-free (sf) medium. Ganglioside-free GM-95-sf cells could be infected by avian and human influenza A viruses and produced infectious virus progeny demonstrating that gangliosides were neither absolutely necessary for the early nor for the late stages of the infection. However, sensitivity of the GM-95-sf cells to the viruses was 2–4 times lower than that of the ganglioside-containing parent cell line. Further studies are needed to specify whether this effect was due to the lack of gangliosides, neutral glycosphingolipids, or other effects.     

Frizzled7 as an emerging target for cancer therapy

Wnt proteins are secreted glycoproteins that bind to the N-terminal extra-cellular cysteine-rich domain of the Frizzled (Fzd) receptor family. The Fzd receptors can respond to Wnt proteins in the presence of Wnt co-receptors to activate the canonical and non-canonical Wnt pathways. Recent studies indicated that, among the Fzd family, Fzd7 is the Wnt receptor most commonly upregulated in a variety of cancers including colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and triple negative breast cancer. Fzd7 plays an important role in stem cell biology and cancer development and progression. In addition, it has been demonstrated that siRNA knockdown of Fzd7, the anti-Fzd7 antibody or the extracellular peptide of Fzd7 (soluble Fzd7 peptide) displayed anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo mainly due to the inhibition of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of Fzd7 by small interfering peptides or a small molecule inhibitor suppressed β-catenin-dependent tumor cell growth. Therefore, targeted inhibition of Fzd7 represents a rational and promising new approach for cancer therapy.     

拟南芥新型脂转移蛋白AtDHyPRP1的亚细胞定位及其对灰霉菌的抗性

通过遗传转化技术研究了拟南芥脂转移蛋白AtDHyPRP1在细胞中的定位及其对真菌病原体的抗性。采用PCR方法从拟南芥Ws生态型克隆了AtDHyPRP1基因,构建产生pRI101-AN-AtDHyPRP1植物双元表达载体和pCAMBIA1302-AtDHyPRP1-GFP融合表达载体,经农杆菌介导的叶盘和浸花法得到烟草和拟南芥转基因植株。AtDHyPRP1基因能够明显增加烟草对灰霉菌的抗性,转AtDHyPRP1烟草叶片的被侵染部位有大量H2O2积累,激光共聚焦显微观察发现AtDHyPRP1蛋白定位于细胞表面。说明AtDHyPRP1蛋白在合成后被分泌到细胞外执行特殊的功能,与植物抗病防御机制有关。     

小鼠海马内HDAC2的表达及其与NMDA受体、PSD-95的共定位

目的探讨组蛋白去乙酰化酶2（HDAC2）在成年C57BL/6小鼠海马内的分布及其与突触后致密区（PSD）蛋白成员的共定位,为揭示HDAC2与PSD蛋白复合物之间的内在联系及在海马相关的学习记忆过程中可能起到的调控作用提供形态学依据。方法应用免疫组化方法观察HDAC2在C57BL/6小鼠海马各区的表达分布。应用免疫荧光双标技术研究HDAC2与PSD蛋白成员N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体亚单位1（NR1）、PSD-95之间是否存在共定位。结果 HDAC2在小鼠海马CA1～CA3区锥体细胞和齿状回颗粒细胞均具有明显表达,而在各区的始层、辐射层、腔隙-分子层以及齿状回多形细胞层表达均较少。免疫荧光双标染色图片的重叠表明,HDAC2与NR1、PSD-95在小鼠海马CA1～CA3区锥体细胞层和齿状回颗粒细胞层内均可见显著共表达现象,其他区域偶见散在分布的双染神经元。结论 HDAC2在小鼠海马锥体细胞层和颗粒细胞层表达丰富,并与PSD蛋白成员间存在共定位现象。本实验结果为探讨HDAC2对谷氨酸能突触后神经元依赖的突触可塑性的调节机制提供了形态学依据。     

NIRF泛素化p53的作用过程中NIRF与p53结合域的测定

NIRF(Np95/ICBP90-like RING finger protein)是2002年发现的一种核蛋白,其功能涉及细胞增殖调节、蛋白多聚泛素化降解、细胞癌变进程控制等领域．已有研究报道,NIRF能与p53相互作用, NIRF本身也是一个高度调节蛋白,在细胞正常的生理状态下发挥泛素化E3连接酶的作用,结合p53并将其降解,但NIRF与p53结合的蛋白结合域目前尚不清楚．本文研究证明,NIRF能与p53结合成复合体参与泛素化蛋白降解途径,并测定出NIRF与p53结合的区域．为了检测NIRF的蛋白结合域,将空载体和NIRF缺失突变体质粒分别转染于HEK293细胞,蛋白表达水平通过Western印迹用两种抗体分别检测. 结果显示,所有的突变体都能在细胞中表达,并且两种抗体检测结果完全一致. 同时,免疫共沉淀技术用于进一步分析实验结果. 由于泛素化蛋白通常伴随蛋白酶体通路介导的降解,免疫共沉淀的蛋白纯化过程中用蛋白酶体抑制剂MG-132以抑制蛋白降解. 本研究结果显示,NIRF 通过PHD区域与p53形成复合体. 该复合体可能参与蛋白分选、蛋白降解、DNA修复以及细胞凋亡等一系列重要的细胞活动,从而形成与细胞增殖相关的新的信号通路,在肿瘤的发生发展中可能发挥某种程度的作用．